


At Last Been Surely Found

by heerickson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blushing, Fairytale Larry, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Forbidden Love, King's Guard! Louis, Literally just so soft, M/M, Mutual Pining, Once Upon A Time, Romance, Secretly Love Each Other, Smut, fairytale AU, knight!louis, prince!harry, they're both just so SOFT for each other I cannot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:40:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22876450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heerickson/pseuds/heerickson
Summary: Harry is destined to be the next king, the only thing standing in his way is finding a queen. The only problem, he can't stop staring at his king's guard long enough to find one.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

As Harry lays on his back surrounded by a sea of lilac, he turns his head to find Louis laying on his side already watching him. His sky blue eyes melting into the warm sun drenched meadow and warming Harry’s skin. Louis’ face is soft and light as he is looking at Harry as if he hung the moon. If he could, Harry thinks he would save this moment in a box under his bed to take out when he needs a little extra sunshine in his life.

“What are you staring at?” Harry asks with a smirk as he rolls his head to face the sun basking in the warmth on his skin.

“Just admiring my little prince. I could sit and admire you forever and constantly find something to love. You truly amaze me.”

As Harry sits up to kiss Louis, he is brutally woken up by a loud knocking at his door. He looks around to find that he is no longer in a meadow of lilac laying in the sun, he is in his cold bed, alone on a cloudy, rain covered day. He throws his head back into his pillow and groans. Another day as “Prince Harry”. Another day of pretending to be who he is not. And to top off this wonderful awakening, today is his 21st birthday. Today is the day he is supposed to find his queen and live happily ever after. Only, Harry knows that no princess at this ball will be his happily ever after, no princess at all.

For the ball, Harry picked out an outfit that he knew would stand out and make him feel confident. Tonight, he was wearing a light blue suit accompanied by a loose white button-up with a loose bow at the top. His blue suit jacket and matching pants have a lilac seam going down the side and along the front of the lapels on his jacket. The pants of his suit hugging his every curve made him feel more confident than ever and the airy fabric of the white shirt flowed down his front loosely in a bow showing off his stomach through the sheer fabric. The loose fabric contrasted the high neckline that fit snug onto his neck and accentuated his strong jaw and flowing curls. He had been growing his hair for some time now and it now laid perfectly at shoulder length with just a few pieces curling around his ears. As Harry is getting ready for the ball, the women in charge of his attire for the night fluttering around him adjusting this, hemming that Harry can’t help but be in his head. As one woman stops arranging his curls just so, another one comes in and adjusts something on his shirt. He was both completely overwhelmed and lost in a clouded daze. Everything in his mind brought him back to the act he was about to put on. A night full of pretending to care what some Lord from some Kingdom has to say about why his daughter is “the only reasonable option for his queen” or them speculating as to why they would be better fit to run the kingdom because Harry is “too young and immature to run a kingdom”. As his brain turns and ruminates on all the painful conversations he’s going to have tonight, he doesn’t hear Louis coming into the room.

“Earth to Little Prince? What’s going on in that curly head of yours?” Louis said nudging Harry in the shoulder with a laugh.

“Sorry, just thinking about tonight.” Harry responded to his personal guard with a sigh.

“Oh don’t worry your little head over it you’re going to have all the girls swooning over you. You’ll find your queen in no time.” Louis said with a cheeky smile and a wink. Louis notices that Harry doesn’t laugh as he barely even responds to Louis.

“Now ladies give me Harry some lad time, were going to go over some chat-up lines to help old Harry here impress the ladies.” Louis said with a flick of his wrist and the women working rolled their eyes but quietly packed up their things and gave the two some privacy. As the door closed, Louis looked back at Harry and gave him a slight smile, “You looked like you could use a little breathing room. I’ll be outside waiting for when you’re ready.” Louis said as he turned to exit the room following the tailors. Harry quickly grabbed his bicep stopping him from going any further. “Stay please.” Louis turned around and looked at Harry confused until he saw the cloudy look in Harry’s eyes. He turned back to Harry and gave him an understanding nod.

“So Little Prince, are you ready to find the love of your life?” Louis said jokingly to Harry to get him to smile at least for a little bit. Harry looks at him under hooded eyelids, and says “I don't believe a love like that is meant for me”. Louis looks at him confused, but then quickly sees that for some reason unknown to him, Harry is hurting. Instinctively he goes to touch him and fixes the lapel on his jacket. He smiles up at him as their eyes linger a bit too long lost in their own world. Harry can feel his cheeks reddening and could swear he saw a flicker of something in Louis’ eyes. Louis on the other hand, is currently stopping himself from melting into a pool of adoration right there. The two look at each other for what seems to be an eternity, the pair lost in their own little world in each other’s eyes. Their little world is abruptly shattered by a loud knock on the door. Without breaking the gaze, Harry takes a deep breath, plasters a fake smile on, and says “Here goes nothing.” They turn and head for the door, Louis trailing behind Harry with a concerned look on his face. What could be going on in that beautiful mind of his to make him seem so cold. Louis then decides at that moment that his new official duty is to put a smile on Harry’s face at all times. For the good of the kingdom of course, it has nothing to do with the way his dimples becomes craters that Louis wishes he could fall into when he smiles or the crinkles by his eyes when he laughs. Definitely not that.

\------------------

At the ball, Harry is in the middle of a conversation with a Lord from a kingdom just north of his, when he is interrupted by a small hand touching his back. As Harry turns around, he is met with a head full of blonde curls facing him.

“I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Princess Florence from the Southern Isles. And you're Prince Harry.” the short blonde said with a wink.

“Nice to meet you, I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure of introducing myself sooner, I’m Harry. That’s a lovely dress you have on.” Harry complimented. She immediately blushed and grabbed his bicep and gave it a flirty squeeze.

“Oh Prince Harry you’re such a flirt! No wonder every girl at the ball is looking at us right now!” Princess Florence said just loud enough for several pairs of eyes to turn their way to find the source of the noise.

“Now are you going to ask me to dance or are we going to stand here flirting all night? She said wrapping her arm around his with a loud giggle, leading him to the dance floor. Harry’s stunned face immediately found Louis at the corner of the ballroom who was already watching him with a determined look on his face. Before Harry could think more into why Louis was watching him so intently, he was pulled into Princess Florence’s chest as she quickly placed his left hand on her lower back and his right hand in hers. As abruptly as this dance began, it ended just as quickly when Harry was startled by a loud bang and yelling coming from the other side of the ballroom.

“WHERE IS MY HARRY. SOMEONE GIVE ME MY HARRY.”

Harry bursted into a giant smile and politely excused himself from Princess Florence to go find the source of the commotion.

“Looking for me?” Harry said with a cheeky grin and a shoulder shimmy. “Get over here you big lump i need a heavy dose of Irish loving STAT.”

Harry was then tackled into a bear hug by the loud man and pulled to the ground. “Finally you’re back! And what’s this?? Your hair is brunette now? How long has it been Niall?”

“Oh please it’s only been 6 months you can’t have forgotten me in that short of time! I’m the new Christopher Columbus baby! Now let’s stop making a complete fool of ourselves in front of your guests and go grab you a drink! A man’s 21st birthday is something to be celebrated in a haze!” Niall laughed as they stood up.

Accompanied by several dirty looks from nobel lords and ladies, Harry and Niall walked over to the bar wrapped up in each other smiling like complete idiots.

“One round of whiskey shots for the lads my good sir.” Niall said in a fake old English accent that made Harry giggle into his side.

Louis watched as Harry and Niall downed shot after shot as Niall told Harry all about his trip to America.

“Lad, you have got to see the ladies they have there! They’re a whole different breed im telling you man. Next time my family is there doing foreign relations you have to come with! You would love it!” Niall said, clapping Harry on the back.

“But Niall don’t you recall, tonight is the night I am to meet my betrothed and fall madly in love with the kingdoms new queen who will reign by my side for eternity.” Harry said posing as a prim and proper king holding his glass as his scepter. Niall let out a barking laugh and punched Harry in the arm.

“I don’t know about all that but that Princess Florence was looking very interested in you when I disrupted the party, sorry about that by the way.” Niall said as he pointed to the Princess who was doing her very best to pretend that she wasn’t just staring longingly at Harry.

“Yeah she’s nice, I just didn’t really feel that spark with her, or anyone tonight if I’m being honest.” Harry twiddled his thumbs as he looked down, away from Niall.

Louis couldn’t help but notice Harry and Niall pointing in the direction of the Princess he had seen obsessing over Harry all night and he thought to himself that they would make a good looking couple. What he didn’t think about though, was the pang in his heart thinking of his little prince and this random princess falling in love. No he definitely did not think about that.

After three more drinks and several stories about America from Niall, Harry was finally able to relax and enjoy his time with his best friend. In a world where he has to hide who he truly is, having a friend to talk to makes it all a little less heavy. As Harry was finally becoming content with his night, he catches sight of none other than Princess Florence making a bee-line towards him and Niall at the bar. Niall noticed the startled look on Harry’s face and turned to see what made his best friend turn into Casper the Friendly Ghost. Niall saw the Princess making her way through the crowd and leaned into Harry to whisper; “Want me to intercept her for you? Looks like you’ve just seen a ghost mate.”

Harry nodded thankfully and quickly got up from his seat at the bar and went the opposite direction of Princess Florence. He heard Niall introducing himself as he made his way out of the ballroom. He was met with the cool winter air hitting his face. It felt as though for the first time all night, Harry could finally breathe. He took a long deep breath and sat on the stairs of the castle, closing his eyes. It was all of two minutes of silence before he heard the castle door open. He layed back with a sigh, already dreading the idea of going back to the ball. He looked up to see who had joined him outside and was met with the most beautiful sight. He looked up to see Louis standing there looking down at him with a concerned look. The moonlight shined on his cheekbones making them look as though they were made of silver, and his eyes shone brighter than any star Harry had ever seen. He was so wrapped up in staring at Louis he completely ignored Louis asking if he was okay.

“You know Little Prince, it isn’t polite to ignore people when they talk to you.” Louis said with a smirk.

“Huh? Oh shit sorry I mean oh sorry didn’t mean to swear I- Shit. Oh Shit!” Harry said fumbling over both his words and his lanky legs as he tried to stand up.

Louis laughed and offered his hand to help Harry up. “Seems as though whiskey is what makes you loosen up. Duly noted.”

“Sorry tonight has just been the absolutely longest ending to the longest day. My head feels like it's made of concrete.” Harry said rubbing his hand through his hair and pulling at the hair on the nape of his neck. At the same time, both Louis and Harry looked down to see that they were still holding onto each other's hands from when Louis helped him up. They both pulled their hands away and looked to the side blushing. It was Louis who looked back to Harry first whose eyes are currently glued to the floor between them. Louis gently places his hand on Harry’s elbow urging him to look up at him. He was met with Harry’s bright green eyes that shine even brighter in the moonlight that he thought possible. As his stomach did a triple flip, he felt every follicle of hair on his body raise into goosebumps. He looked at the sudden intensity in Harry’s eyes and resisted the urge to grab his face and kiss every inch of him. Something he had dreamed of since his first day working for Harry as his personal guard.

“My advice little prince, don’t try so hard to be what you think they want. Be the Harry that wanders through the garden reading a book about god knows what old poet was thinking about hundreds of years ago,” Harry interrupted him to defend himself. “Poetry is very cool i'll have you know.”

“Sure, sure, but what I’m saying is, don’t put on a mask for the people in that room, if someone really wanted to get to know you, they wouldn’t be making up stories about their eccentric lives or ranting about politics. They would look for the real you.” Harry looked at Louis as if his whole world was both just explained to him and made more confusing in the few short sentences Louis had just said. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed.

“If only it were that easy.” Harry sounded defeated, exhausted and completely done with the day.

“Why don’t you get some sleep Little Prince, I’ll cover for you if anyone comes looking for you. King’s Guard honor.” Louis said as he saluted Harry. This pulled a strained and tired laugh out of Harry but he looked up at Louis and nodded.

“Thank you so much. I know it is your job, but I really appreciate how helpful you are to me. You’re a good friend.” Harry said as he walked away towards the side of the castle.

As he watched Harry slowly wander off towards his wing of the castle, he couldn’t help but trace the outline of Harry’s body with his eyes. He watched him until he faded into the night and Louis was forced to come back to reality and make his way back into the ballroom. “Friends”, he thought with a slight frown.

Harry finally made his way back to his room after taking his sweet time wandering about the castle grounds. As he stripped his suit off and laid it on the chair next to his bed he couldn’t help but think about his conversation with Louis. After he was left in only his black boxer briefs, he threw his body down onto his bed and let out a pained laugh. “You’re a good friend” he said into his pillow rolling his eyes. He crawled under his covers and let his mind wander back to Louis. He felt the spot on his arm that Louis held when he was talking to him. His hand slightly running his fingers over the spot. He drifted to sleep to the thought of Louis cheekbones in the moonlight and the words that came out of his perfect mouth, “They would look for the real you.” Harry felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his belly and wrapped himself into a tight ball. Who would see the real him?


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is finally here!! Sorry this took so long, I've been busy with school work but here she is! I am super proud of this chapter and please don't hate me for the somewhat cliffhanger I'm going to set a schedule to upload so that I don't get off track!! Enjoy

As the sun slowly rose through the small windows in Louis’ cottage, he rolls over to notice that while the sun has just begun it’s day, his is far from the start. His mind racing the night before about what could be clouding the sunshine behind Harry’s eyes. As his personal guard, it was his duty to make sure that the Prince was protected, and he had justified in his head that this protection also included making sure his brain was filled only with sunshine and loveliness. Again, guard’s duty. As he begrudgingly threw his legs off of his thick wool sheets, the floorboards creak under his feet. He stood looking out through his window and his fluffy grey cat, Charles settles on his still warm feet. 

“Think we can get away with laying back down for an hour or two, Charles?” Louis said with a sigh. Charles then, as if responding to his question bolted through the bedroom door towards either a mystery mouse or his own shadow. Louis got the message and stretched his thin arms up above his head revealing the small tummy at the bottom of his torso as his shirt lifted up. He yawned into the stretch and came down with a hand in his light brown fringe ruffling it from the distorted mess that had come from his tossing and turning from the long night before. As he padded into the bathroom next to his room, the floorboards creaked, echoing through the empty house filled only by random furniture and a pudgy cat chasing its tail. 

Looking into the partially faded mirror mounted on his wall, Louis can see the effects of his restless night. His eyes surrounded by dark circles hinting at the dark thoughts shrouding his mind, red, bitten lips showing the concern wrapped around his thoughts, and the still irrevocable tousled hairstyle he had. He sighed and relented to getting into the shower to wash off his night. As he stood under the light stream of lukewarm water, he could not help his thoughts racing to the conversation the night before. Was he crazy to have mapped the curves and slopes of a prince’s body whom he could never touch? Was he crazy to think that he saw a hint of something in Harry’s eyes when he first saw him outside of the ball? He stepped further into the mist to wash away the racing thoughts in his head. 

\-----------------------

Stepping into the garden, the first thing he saw among a sea of bright pinks and yellows, was a sun-lit boy wandering through the flowers as if he were floating, nothing bothering to pierce the bubble of peace surrounding him. Louis finds himself standing in place and just staring at the boy lost in his own world, surrounded by beauty but only being able to focus on one beautiful thing. A quick gust of wind pulling him out of his early morning trance, Louis cleared his throat letting Harry know his bubble was about to be popped. 

“I thought I’d find you here, Little Prince. What are you doing up so early?” Louis asked in a tone light enough as to not disturb the peaceful aura surrounding this morning. 

Without looking up, Harry responded, “haven’t slept, actually.” 

Louis noticed the tired tone in Harry’s voice and felt a pang in his heart. Not only did he sleep like shit, so did his Little Prince. Something inside him pushed him toward the somber boy. He picked an especially beautiful lily from a new bush on his way towards Harry and when he looked up, he was met with shimmering emerald eyes that could rival the sun in brilliance. Louis leans over toward a bunch of freshly planted lilies and carefully picks one from the stem. He places the flower behind the ear of the boy and just like pushing a button, a springy curl emerges from his sea of brown locks. Louis thinks of how he wishes he could wrap that curl around his finger and spring it back into place but he settles with his flower being placed delicately into Harry’s hair. 

As he is pushing the flower into Harry’s ear, Harry softly laughs, “they just planted those for my birthday. What a shame they’re already being pulled from the root before they can even…” Before Harry can finish his sentence his cheek is met with a soft yet calloused hand on his cheek jolting him with electricity. Both Harry and Louis quickly lift their heads up meeting each other's eyes in an instant. A bolt of electricity rushed through them. Louis' hand absentmindedly lowered to Harry’s cheek. They both somehow deepend the stare and inched closer to one another. It seems as though once one takes a breath the other returns, in an intense give and take of energy. Harry moved his mouth slightly upwards to say something but Louis broke the trance. Louis strokes Harry’s cheek and chuckles, “Last night just wasn’t the time. You’ll find the one…. you’ll find your queen.” Louis said while dropping his hand and giving Harry a slight smile. 

“I don’t quite see that for me… but I appreciate your…. concern.” Harry said while still looking at his feet. Ignoring the burning in his stomach thinking of the hand that was just pressed onto his cheek. 

Harry coughed and let the moment pass while still studying the seams of his shoes. “I actually have a few errands I would like you to run for me Louis.” Harry’s tone changed like the drop in temperature accompanying a tornado. 

Louis took a step back as to remember who he is to Harry, his personal guard. Not his friend, not his…. No. “I’m not typically one for being an errand jockey….” Louis teased.

Harry did not budge from his spot or gaze, this caught Louis off guard and he immediately pushed aside any banter he had prepared. 

“But I am at your beck and call my Little Prince.” Louis said with a slightly forced smile he hoped would not show to Harry. 

Harry handed Louis a crumpled up piece of yellow-tinted paper with three bullet points written on them. Louis quickly read through the list, still thinking to himself why Harry would need his personal guard to go to the castle florist down the road and check on a shipment of sunflowers, but the look on Harry’s face told him to just run the simple errand and not think too much about it. Louis folded up the list and slipped it into his jacket pocket. He gave Harry a sarcastic salute and a soft smile. As he was turning around to make his way to the front gates of the castle though, he was met with a quiet voice.

“Louis… I meant what I said last night. About how much I appreciate how helpful you are. You being around was something I looked forward to each day if I’m being honest. You didn’t treat me like ‘Prince Harry’. It seemed like I was just Harry.” Harry met Louis’ gaze with a slight smile and a slow nod of his head. Louis was confused as to why Harry used the past tense to refer to him, but he was far too distracted by the way his curls were lit up by the sun making them seem as if they were made of gold to spend too long thinking about it. 

Louis responded, matching Harry’s quiet tone, “It is my pleasure, just Harry.” And with that he turned and began his seemingly pointless journey to check on the status of a bunch of sunflowers, pick up a book from a bookstore across town, and take a box of clothing to the kingdom’s orphanage. 

  
  


\-----------------------

  
  


As Louis stepped into the front doors of the castle, he was met with a scene that looked as if it was the apocalypse and he was the last one to hear the sirens. He quickly set down the book he picked up for Harry (The Secret Rose: Love Poems by W.B. Yeats, Louis knew Harry loved poetry but this particular selection felt like a hot coal in his hand thinking of the person Harry will fall in love with. The person he can read these poems to) and found the nearest guard he could to find out what all of the commotion was about. He soon learned that Harry had gone missing. His Little Prince was nowhere to be found. Louis felt his stomach drop upon hearing the news. He had just seen Harry this morning? He couldn’t help but immediately blame himself for not being by his side. What if Harry was in danger? If Louis was with him rather than doing errands any castle staff could have done, would Harry still be safe? His internal questions were immediately met with real questions of the same nature from the mouth of the King’s Guard head guard.

“Where were you, Tomlinson? Your one job is to protect the prince, and you can’t even do that? Why do I hear that you were off in town at the bookstore and the orphanage? Felt like taking a day off? Well congratulations your day off has now led to one of the worst things to happen to this dynasty since King Adrian got the maid pregnant!” The head guard continued to rant about how reckless Louis was, but all Louis could hear was the ringing in his ears. He was right, there was no reason to go on those errands for Harry. He should not have left his side and if he wasn’t so distracted by the way Harry’s hair glinted in the morning sun, he would have been able to realize that and he wouldn’t be in this mess. Harry would be safe. 

“I’ll find him.” Louis said while straightening his back and raising his chin. He knew that this was his responsibility and he would not be able to live with himself if something had happened to Harry.

“You sure as hell will! If you want any hope of keeping your goddamn head after this ordeal, you better bring that boy back in one piece or so help me god I will behead you myself.” The head guard barked at him, spit hitting Louis’ face. 

“He was last seen in the garden on the east side of the castle. Lord knows that boy spends enough time out there he’s starting to become a flower himself.” 

Louis could feel his hands ball up into fists at his side and his fingernails dug into his palms as he tried to contain the sheer rage that bubbled up inside of him when he heard him insulting Harry. He knows nothing about Harry other than his title, how dare he talk about him like that. Louis pushed the rage down in his belly enough to take a deep breath and nod back at the head guard before making his way up to Harry’s room. 

He walked in, hoping to see that if Harry in fact did leave the castle, he would be able to at least find a clue as to where he was or, more importantly to Louis, why. It felt wrong going through Harry’s things. Louis was his personal guard, not a nosy snoop looking to score a story off of the prince for a quick buck. Louis tentatively made his way around Harry’s room and lamented at the fact that he was finding no hidden Sherlock Holmes style clues that Harry could have left. Louis finds himself grazing his hand along the spines of the countless books on the bookshelf along the far wall of the room. He thought about how Harry always, always had a book in his hand. He wondered if Harry gets wrapped up in the stories as much as he does, not wanting the last page to come. He wondered if he used a bookmark to mark his page or dog ears the pages like Louis. 

Louis made his way around the room scanning all of the bits of Harry laying around. He saw the suit jacket he wore to his birthday ball, he saw the scraps of paper crumpled up by the trash can, and he saw the flower. Louis walked over to Harry’s desk to get a closer look, and there it was. The lily that he had picked from the garden and placed in Harry’s hair. He was immediately sent back to that morning, the last time he saw Harry before he went missing. A shiver went up his spine and he could feel the hairs on his arms raise at the memory of the soft touches that accompanied that flower. He carefully set the flower back down and noticed a notepad with the same paper as the list he had received his list of duties for the day, a mason jar full of pens and pencils of all different colors, and an envelope tucked under the notepad. The white envelope was simply labeled _Niall._ Louis knew that opening the letter was crossing a major boundary into Harry’s personal life that made his stomach drop, but he also knew that Harry was missing, and maybe this letter to his best friend could help find him. He picked up the letter and said a silent thank you because the letter was not sealed. It was one thing to read someone’s personal letter, but the act of opening a seal that was not meant for you seemed morally wrong. He slipped the letter out of the envelope and carefully unfolded it as to not tear it. The first thing Louis noticed was the handwriting. Harry wrote in long and curled strokes that seemed as though they belonged in a museum. Louis absentmindedly stroked his thumb over the page, imagining Harry while he was writing this note. Was this from today or had he just not mailed the letter? The letter didn’t even fill a full page, and said: 

_Niall,_

_I simply cannot keep doing this. I have been putting on this act for my entire life and without an end in sight, I am rapidly losing hope. I do not know what the future holds for me, but getting out of bed every morning and putting on a mask cannot be it. I refuse to accept that reality. I am just waiting for the day I can sneak out of this bubble and be myself without anyone watching. Do you ever think about the cabin we found when we were young? Do you think it’s still standing? I would give anything for that cabin over this castle that is simultaneously so full yet so cold and empty. I miss you, Irish. Come home. xx_

_Yours Truly,_

_Harry_

Louis felt his jaw drop as he read the letter. Was his prince, Harry, was Harry hurting so much inside that he was this hopeless? Louis felt a sudden pang of guilt for not seeing past the guise that Harry is talking about. He thought back to the morning and how Harry had told him he hadn’t slept at all. Why did he not push further. Why did he not ask Harry to tell him why? Harry was, in his own words, putting on an act. Could Louis really not see past that act enough to see Harry for who he is? What was he hiding? He took a step backward and sat on the cushioned wood chair at the desk and felt all of the air in his lungs escape. 

Louis reread the letter twice more, and still felt a pang in his heart every time he read the words, I am rapidly losing hope. Before he could let himself dream of ways that he could help Harry find hope for himself, a thought came to Louis’ mind. He quickly scanned the letter to find the sentence about a cabin. He could feel the metaphorical anvil being dropped on his head because how could it take him this long to see what was right in front of him? The cabin! The cabin he walks by every single day on his way to the castle. The one he remembers being especially secluded when he took an extended trip to the castle on a day he did not want to be there. That day being one when Harry was away on a trip so he would not be at the castle but Louis convinced himself that it was just because he was especially tired that day. Just a coincidence. 

He quickly got up and refolded the letter carefully and placed it back in the envelope. He took one last glance at the lily sitting perfectly on Harry’s desk and then made his way back to the great hall of the castle. He knew that Harry was there. He had no evidence, only an obscure letter about a cabin that he wasn’t even sure was the same one, but he knew Harry was there. He could feel it in his bones. He haphazardly informed his head guard that he was going to go looking for Harry. He knew that if he was right, Harry would be there, but what he still does not know is why. 

Louis is quickly walking towards the direction of his own home, a feeling which is usually met with enjoyment and an expectation of relaxation. This time, however, he was nowhere near relaxed. What would he say to Harry? What if he isn’t even there? Louis could feel his head get heavy with all of the unanswered questions of today. His feet are the only thing propelling him forward as his mind is racing thinking of all of the possibilities. 

He finally stepped up to the cobblestone path that had been mostly covered by the grass surrounding it. He anxiously stepped along the path looking for any sign of someone there. He did not see anything in the yard, nothing along the path, until. He saw it. Louis froze in his spot and felt as though his feet were suddenly made of cement. There on the tattered and age-worn porch, a wicker basket of wildflowers with the Styles crest woven into the side. The basket was placed right outside of the rust red front door, and that was all the proof Louis needed to know that he was inside. His Little Prince was inside, and according to the basket of freshly picked wildflowers, safe. He took a deep breath and let his feet lead him up to the front door. 

He stepped on the porch and examined it. He had never been this close to the cabin, but he found that it was still liveable and quite maintained for a house that had been left vacant for who knows how long. He lifted his head towards the door to find that it was already open, only a screen door blocking the entrance. Inside he heard faint music being played and what sounded like someone inside. He knew that just walking into a cabin that is not his is both illegal and rude, but in this moment he felt his hand willing itself to open the screen door and step across the threshold. He is met with a sight that he wants to burn into his memory forever. Harry is making his way around the kitchen, wielding a spatula and a wearing quite possible the most perfect thing Louis could have ever conjured in his mind. Harry is wearing a lilac sweater that could have been made of cotton candy and a pair of flared blue jeans that rose low on his hips revealing a pair of laurel leaf tattoos on his hips that made Louis swallow hard. He was barefoot on the kitchen floor and Louis even noticed the slight sight of light pink on Harry’s toes. He paints his toenails. Louis was definitely never going to forget this view. 

While Louis is staring at Harry with an endeared expression and his feet frozen to the floor, he doesn’t notice that he has let go of the screen door and heard it crash back into the door frame. Louis jumped out of his trance at the loud bang and cursed under his breath. Harry, without even looking up from his pot on the stove responded to the loud noise. 

“If you’re here to take me back to the castle you better…” He looked up as he spoke and was immediately met with a pair of icy blue eyes that he could pick out anywhere. 

“Oh, it’s you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I found this children's book called Prince and Knight about a prince that falls in love with a knight that saves his life and it inspired me to write an AU about prince!harry and knight!louis! The author of the book is Daniel Haack and it's such an adorable story that is so important for kids to read. I'm going to try and update as much as possible to bear with me loves!   
> ENJOY


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